Evicted farmers should not get compensation, court told

Six farmers being evicted from their farms have taken the Scottish government to court after it refused to look into their claims for compensationGetty Images

Tenant farmers evicted after flawed laws were passed by parliament are not victims who deserve compensation, the Scottish government said in court.

Lawyers for the Scottish government told the Court of Session in Edinburgh that farmers granted the right to stay on their rented farms for generations by a change in the law in 2003 had enjoyed a “windfall”.

James Mure, QC, for the Scottish government, said that it was not the responsibility of ministers when landlords evicted those same farmers after, a decade later, that law was ruled contrary to human rights legislation by the Supreme Court.

“One can call it a windfall or an unexpected benefit [for the farmers] but that came from a violation of the landlords’ rights,” Mr Mure told the…